ALBUM REVIEW

Jon Bauer:
Surround

Former worship leader, pastor, and teacher, Jon Bauer now travels throughout North America spreading the message of hope, grace, and redemption in song. Surround is his sophomore disc, and it shows a depth and understanding of the Christian faith while still being accessible to youth and new believers.

Rarely do you find an artist who does everything right at putting out a record while still keeping His word and ministry at the focal point. Jon Bauer masterfully blends a mixture of Pop and Praise & Worship, and he and Jeff Watt approach the level of craftsmanship of Chris Tomlin as songwriters.

Awaken certainly does just that to the listener as heavy guitars rock the intro. But then it opens up to Jon’s “now”-sounding lead vocal gently crooning a wonderfully melodic verse. The production of this song and the entire CD is top-notch and the counter melodies of the guitar arrangements are just stupendous. Awaken has a strong Chorus hook that can be sung in any church with a bit more mellow arrangement, but as a listener you will fall in love from the onset with the style and strong message that Jon brings to the table.

Call to Me is very heartfelt lyrically and you don’t want to miss His message while enthralled in the guitar laden arrangements. The middle bridge is brilliant, with production setting a mood that gives you Spiritual chills right before a catchy Jeff Watt guitar solo. The musical instrumentation is so good you nearly forget that Jon’s voice is the main instrument holding the song together. It really is a wonderful blend and an incredible job from the producers and engineers. The mix and mastering efforts enhance this sound to as good as any major label, if not better.

The title track, Surround, is a smooth production with another catchy chorus that definitely sticks with you (a goal of any praise and worship songwriter), but the production is so strong you forget that this is a praise and worship song. The last couple of minutes of Surround mesmerize the listener. You are literally surrounded in a wall of intricate complementing puzzle parts that fit together to create a picture-perfect song.

Holy Lord is a straightforward praise and worship song with lyrics and a melody that are congregational friendly. The backing vocals and worship choir are as good as you can find, and the vocal mixes certainly bring out these talented singers who enhance Jon’s very rich and smooth lead vocal. “Giver of Grace, there is no other one like You,” says it all. Jon mixes things up slightly by going acoustic on a song that certainly warrants such. But, again, production is never forgotten on this record as the song builds by the two minute mark with added instrumentation and fantastic female (Michelle Swift and Caris Rinas) backup vocals. The song ends with Jon and guitar, just as it started.

At track number six is the best cut on the album, A Love To Die For, a clever song giving to Him all of what we are for the God who gave His life for us. This needs to be on the radio for decades as it will stand the test of time, a well written song is just that. Michael W. Smith comes to mind when listening to this masterpiece; the quality and the ‘it’ factor are both there in spades. There is obvious pre-production programming involved in this venture and any good musician will do all they can digitally before they shell out the studio bucks. Most listeners don’t care about the nuts and bolts that make up a four minute track, but trust me, the level of commitment that Jon put forth in this final product was extreme. The material of Surround is so strong that this gem isn’t even included in the press kit.

Glorious to Me just keeps the hit parade marching along. The chorus hooks are just unmatched. What few will notice is that they are not hitting the skip button because Jon does not give into temptation and varies different styles, he stays steady, yet keeps it interesting. Continuity is something many artists do not adhere too, but again this well thought-out project has every single song in the right track slot.

You Are is reminiscent of Dana Key’s last solo CD, Part of the Mystery. Again, good company to be compared to. The jazzy guitar strumming certainly gives the listener a sense of variety without straying off too far, the Chorus reminds you that it’s still a praise song for Him, and just a tight woven track with strong female backups and adlibs. If you listen closely, you can hear mandolin.

It Was Your Love is not a normal next-to-last number, it’s a worshipful full song that has clever backups effects that I’ve heard employed by the masters of Pop in Sweden, Roxette. Did we mention Jon is a Canadian-based artist? His music reaches out to the world and his being a worship leader certainly takes the limelight in the final track, the famous Holy, Holy, Holy. Starting off with simple piano on the final track is smart and well placed, but it’s such a worshipful recording and the slight melodic arrangement complete with choir make this just icing on the cake of this incredible album.

The Lord is this album’s vision from start to finish, no compromise and His excellence is achieved. Jon is a solo artist, but he couldn’t do this alone, and he has surrounded himself with a phenomenal team, right down to the accompanying promotional interactive CD that plays five tracks and provides links to his videos, press clips, and bio. You can even download mp3s from it! We can anticipate perfect 10 after perfect 10 from Jon if the combination that comprises this CD stays intact. Surround stands up with anything produced (indie or label) in the last few years. It is a truly rare find.

A perfect 10! Eight legs up!